Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (June 14, 1946 – May 17, 2038) was the 45th President of the United States (2017 - 2021). As president, Trump was mired by the failure to accomplish much in Congress. In his term he survived an assassination attempt and was drawn into a new Cold War with the Russian Federation. He was hobbled by a myriad of scandals such as allegations of his campaign colluding with the Russians. In historical rankings of the U.S. presidents, Trump is often rated among the worst. Trump ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2016, but he was considered an also-ran with little chance of success. The establishment Republican candidates, such as former Governor JEB Bush and Senator Marco Rubio, routinely split the vote among moderate Republicans in the early primary states, leaving Trump with a small plurality which secured critical early victories. Trump's support gradually grew until the last remaining candidates, Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio dropped out, leaving Trump the nominee despite having only 41% of the popular vote among primary voters. He conducted the first "twitter" campaign, routinely communicating his political positions and reactions to his opponents and critics in real-time through social media. He won an electoral victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton and Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, running on a nationalist theme of "Make America Great Again" and becoming the first person in history with no prior political experience to become President of the United States. Trump appointed a number of controversial figures, including Steve Mnuchin at the Treasury, Jeff Sessions at Justice, Scott Pruitt at the Environmental Protection Agency, and Betsy DeVoss at Education. He was elected despite having lost one of the largest popular vote margins in U.S. history in 2016, when he defeated Hillary Clinton. His administration would be plagued by widespread opposition and a series of accusations about the Trump campaign's involvement with the Russian government during the 2016 election. He boasted "high approval" for his handling of the economy. However, when the Late 2010s Recession happened it costed Trump much of his political support. 2016 presidential campaign The 2016 presidential campaign between Clinton, Trump, and Johnson was conducted during a period of extreme social division within the United States and the ongoing Ukrainian crisis. His campaign was predicated on the idea that the success of the Obama administration had failed the bulk of the country and his opponent was corrupt. The election of 2016 was one of the most divisive of the 21st Century, with none of the three candidates having favorables higher than their unfavorable, and the persistent cloud of social tension resulting from a string of mass shootings and recorded incidents of alleged racially motivated police shootings. Additionally, this election took place during the height of the period of rising nationalism that had swept the western world, exemplified by the British referendum to exit the European Union. Trump ultimately won with 306 electoral votes, however, Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes, the largest vote margin of any losing candidate. This paved the way for the 28th and 29th Amendments to the Constitution, ratified just in time for the 2020 presidential election. Presidency, 2017–21 At the time, Trump was the oldest person elected to the office of the presidency, being 70 years of age. In his first inaugural address on January 20, 2017, he promised to forge peaceful ties with the nations of the world and increase American efforts against jihadist forces, specifically ISIS. Trump argued that America must move beyond preemptive war and nation-building and instead encourage and support local powers, only getting directly involved when all other options have been exhausted. Domestic Policy Civil Rights 'Foreign Policy' 'Korean Crisis (Operation Pacific Horizon)' Main article: Korean Crisis War against ISIS President Trump entered office with ISIS on the defensive in light of the Battle of Mosul, and hoped that by restoring friendly relations with the Russians, he could lead the country to victory against ISIS with Russia as a major ally. This strategy was never able to play out, as the chances of cooperation between the US and the Russians dimmed as Trump's presidency went on, especially after the escalation of Syrian atrocities against its citizens. In the meantime, Trump would silently escalate the war on ISIS, increasing the number of airstrikes on Islamic targets. Within several months, Mosul fell to Iraqi forces, while the Islamic State's capital of al Raqqa would fall to US-backed forces. As well, Trump would increase the US role in Afghanistan to take out extremist strongholds in that country. After the fall of Al Raqqa, Trump's administration would spend much of his term in an effort to formalize the tentative alliance system that began under the Obama administration with Turkey. Trump pushed Turkey to take a leading roll in securing the region, recognizing Turkey's power in the Levant as the Saudi Monarchy continued to crumble, while still forging ties with the latter nation. Trump would go on to take a tougher stance on Iran, seeing it as a sponsor of terrorism and an aggressive power attempting to consolidate control over the Levant and would withdraw from the nuclear agreement negotiated by his predecessor. As Russia became a more pressing threat in the eyes of the public, the US was able to largely disengage from the Levant and Iraq, reducing its air campaign to protecting strategic interests. However, by 2019, the remnants of ISIS that had gone to ground after al-Raqqa fell had begun a persistent campaign of terror over not just Iraq and Syria, but had spread south into Saudi Arabia and Jordan, further destabilizing the region. 'Little Cold War' Trump hoped partnering with the Russians in Syria would help deescalate the Little Cold War, despite extreme pressure from international allies and domestic foreign policy experts. In light of allegations of alleged contact between Trump's campaign and the Russians, however, this began to look naive to the majority of the American public. Many Democratic lawmakers began calling for investigations into Trump's dealings with the Russians, citing accusations during the 2016 campaign of financial dealings with Moscow while the CIA uncovered evidence of Russian interference. After the 2018 Midterms, the House Government Oversight Committee began an investigation into the financial holdings of the President, and while the results of the investigation were embarrassing, they failed to unearth any clear evidence of impropriety. Trump, on the other hand, saw his chances of renewing ties with Russia dim after ordering naval strikes on a Syrian airbase in the aftermath of an attack by the Assad regime against its own citizens with chemical weapons. Russia fiercely condemned the strike, and any chance of a constructive relationship between the US and the Putin regime crumbled. However, it was ultimately the Second Korean War that did that in. Trump pursued a military buildup in Eastern Europe to counter Russian aggression, and ordered a massive restructuring of the United States Armed Forces, including reviving the DDG1000 Zumwalt program that had been curtailed by the Obama administration, pushing for the development of a new generation of advanced drones (most famously the SR-72), and pushing for a "1 to 1" policy for the submarine and surface fleets. In response to Russian deployment of the CSS-01 Anti-satellite, Trump called for more funding to ship-borne lasers and in-space servicing satellites. Neither side would admit it, but for all practical purposes a new arms race between the United States and Russia had begun. The Little Cold War spurred a new era in spaceflight as the US military began to realize its position in space was no longer unassailable. To counter Russian anti-satellite technologies, billions of dollars were pumped into upgrading US launch capabilities, developing in-orbit refueling capabilities, and expanded communications networks. 'Economy' In late 2018, the US economy had slipped into a recession that would last until early 2019 and saw a 1.7% contraction of the GDP. Unemployment rates briefly rose above 7%, largely due to the service industry and manufacturing layoffs. Trump responded with the lowering of interest rates, increasing infrastructure spending and pushing existing defense projects to begin work ahead of schedule. Despite this, the Republican party held control of the Senate by only the Vice President in the 2018 midterms while unexpectedly losing the House in an upset that not even gerrymandering could stop. By fall of 2019, unemployment began to fall to pre-recession levels in the US. Economic stagnation, however, remained constant, and wealth continued to be concentrated more towards urban areas and the wealthy. This trend led to greater hostility toward Trump by his base of support among rural and Midwestern whites. By 2019, the recession, combined with the increased prevalence of Democratic-leaning Millennials in the workforce and the dissatisfaction among Republicans with Trump's apparent inability to follow through within more grandiose campaign promises, had caused public opinion to turn heavily against Trump. He ran for re-election in 2020, but was defeated by Democrat Cory Booker. This, combined with the Republicans finally losing the Senate, was the final nail in the coffin for the Republican Party. It would never again be a viable force, finally disbanding after the election of Dylan J. Price in 2028. 'Collusion with Russia' Main Article: Trump-Russia scandal In January 2017, a U.S. intelligence community assessment expressed "high confidence" that Russia favored Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered an "influence campaign" to denigrate and harm Clinton's electoral chances and potential presidency. The report concluded that Russia used disinformation, data thefts, and leaks to attempt to give an advantage to Trump over Clinton. These conclusions were reaffirmed by the lead intelligence officials in the Trump administration in May 2017. Intelligence allies of the U.S. in Europe found communications between suspected Russian agents and the Trump campaign as early as 2015. By May of 2017, Congressional and Senate investigations into the investigation had begun to bring to light evidence that the Trump campaign had multiple contacts with the Russians and cabinet level officials, most notably former National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn had lied about the degree of their own relationships with the Russians to the FBI and Defense Department. The investigation remained a minor political event until the firing of FBI director James Comey, who was set to testify to Congress about the FBI's own investigation the next day. Comey's firing led to the appointment of a special prosecutor to conduct an independent investigation, former FBI Director Robert Swan Mueller III. After 675 days of investigation into possible collusion between members of the Trump Campaign and representatives of the Russian Federation, the official report by Robert Mueller was filed to the Attorney General and the Department of Justice on March 22, 2019. In the report, it was found that both the Trump campaign and its associates did not deliberately conspire with Russia and that there was insufficient evidence of obstruction of justice beyond a reasonable doubt necessary to prosecute the president. Despite these conclusions, it was also made clear in the report that the findings of the Special Counsel's investigation does not exonerate the president from the accusations made against him either. 'Puerto Rico' In June 2017, Puerto Rico, facing bankruptcy and limited access to the protections enjoyed by the rest of the United States, formally petitioned the US Congress for Statehood. Trump and the Republican controlled Congress opposed the statehood movement, but after the Democrats took back control of the House and were a step away to retaking the Senate, bringing the Commonwealth into the Union as the 51st State became a wedge issue. In February 2019 the Puerto Rico Admission Act was introduced in the Senate to dissolve the territorial status of Puerto Rico along with the US Virgin Islans, and admit them to the Union as a single state. With the warming of relations with Cuba, many investors in the continental United States were already preparing to take advantage of a boom in the Caribbean as previously inaccessible areas of investment became available. Some of these investors, unsatisfied with the pace of Cuba's economic transition wished to divert resources to Puerto Rico, and a strong lobbying effort for statehood began. The rush of investors and access to federal bankruptcy protections would eventually spur a number of other territories in the Gulf of Mexico to seek closer ties to the United States. Trump directly opposed Puerto Rican statehood, and his statements on the matter stirred up outrage among voters in the Southwest. It would prove to be a significant issue in the 2020 elections. Impeachment Inquiry On September 29, 2019, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced the initiation of an impeachment inquiry against the president after the allegations of a whistleblower surfaced that Trump had abused the powers of the presidency by pressuring the president of Ukraine during a phone call made on July 25, 2019. According to the allegations, Trump asked the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to announce investigations of his political rival former vice president Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and a Ukrainian company named Burisma (for which Hunter had worked), as well as supporting a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, was behind the interference in the 2016 US presidential elections. In exchange for these announcements, it was alleged that Trump would authorize the release of US military aid to Ukraine, which is currently engaged in a military conflict in its eastern provinces against the Russian Federation. On October 31, 2019, the House voted 232–196 to establish procedures for public hearings, which began on November 13, 2019. Private and public congressional testimony by multiple government witnesses presented a significant body of evidence indicating Trump demanded a quid pro quo in exchange for the release of vital military aid to Ukraine, a White House meeting with Ukrainian president Zelensky, or both. 2020 presidential election The 2019 recession caused irreparable damage to Trump's image as president. Many blue-collar workers, the traditional bedrock of the Republican party, began to privately or publicly distance themselves from him, citing his inability to follow through with his grandiose promises as a factor. Further confounding the issue was the fact that around this time many Millennials were entering the work force, taking their traditionally Liberal beliefs with them. Mexican immigrants, something Trump had never truly been able to suppress despite many attempts, also increased in number. By 2020 Trump's once-massive support was faltering, and he lost the election that year to Cory Booker. Post-presidency Trump refused to accept the fact that he had lost, and he maintained that he only lost both the electoral and the popular vote due to "illegal votes," just as he did in 2016. He continued to claim up until January 3rd when the House officially confirmed the election of Cory Booker, that he was the legitimate President, making him a pariah in the eyes of many Americans. No longer in any position to challenge the results and facing scandals on all sides, Trump finally conceded in a hastily written farewell address and returned to New York in disgrace. When he died in 2038, at the age of 91, his funeral was largely downplayed by the press and not marked by extensive national mourning. Legacy Donald Trump was considered by many historians to be one of the most controversial Presidents of his time. He conducted the first campaign concentrated in social media while routinely communicating his political positions and reactions to his opponents and critics in real-time. He was considered to be the first 'Social Media President' and his campaign online was borrowed by many future politicians when many had realized the capability of reaching a wider audience through the use of social media. His campaign had largely contributed to the rise of the "alt-right". Trump was also one of the most consequential people in the GOP, which hasn't saw as much shift in stance since the Reagan Era. His controversy was mainly built from his controversial and "unfiltered" comments or views that is based off of emotional impulses. He was criticized for constantly flip-flopping on issues in accordance to his goals. Many of his detractors had argued that he was the cause of an even more violent division within the country, with many comparing his ideas and policies to fascism. The late 2010s recession was largely blamed on the president following the short lack of significant progress in the Korean Crisis in the early 21st century, which tensions between the US and North Korea was at one of its highest since the armistice. His biggest controversies was that his presidency was also known to have one of the highest rates of resignations of staff, many media outlets had called his presidency "unstable". He was frequently accused by opponents as a "misogynist", "racist", or a "traitor". Many of his attempts at carrying out his campaign promises during the 2016 election ended in failure. His detractors also pointed out that his policy of "America First" had frequently alienated long-time U.S. allies such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. On the other hand, Trump was credited for boost funding in space technology, leading to early human settlement on the moon and a public-private co-operative agreement to be able to send a manned mission to Mars earlier than had predicted. His handling of the economy before the recession also received praise, some historians argued that without Trump's tax cuts, the markets would've crashed sooner. Many of his supporters had also praised the president for attempting to carry out practically all of his campaign promises and "exposed misinformation" on media and news outlets (on which he popularized the term "fake news", although the term was later largely used for those who have had a negative opinion on him). His most prized achievement throughout his presidency was his assistance on ending tensions in the Korean Peninsula. Ironically, despite winning 41% of popularity among Republicans in the 2016 primaries, he went on to have one of the highest approval ratings in the GOP of any Republican president in history at the time, with more than 90% approval rating within his party. Despite these achievements, Donald Trump moved on to lose re-election in 2020. Category:Presidents of the United States